A Drama in the Sky
by tulip meadow
Summary: One-shot. The stars are so beautiful. But why is Calcifer, a former star, so ugly? Sophie and Howl listen to his tragic story about how he ended up falling down from the sky to Wales.


**A Drama in the Sky**

It was the late evening of the fifth anniversary of Howl and Sophie's wedding. The guests had already left the moving castle, Morgan and his newborn sister Alicia were sent to bed, leaving the happy couple and Calcifer alone.

After a whole day of launching fireworks, Calcifer turned into a tiny red spark. He politely hid under the firewood, so that Howl and Sophie wouldn't worry about being watched.

Calcifer made a miniature cave in the ash for himself and was just about to drift to sleep, when he heard Howl speaking loudly:

"And you know, I barely mustered the courage to actually propose to you! For nearly two weeks, I haven't straightly asked you to marry me. Especially since you were too busy cleaning away the ash and dust left of my fight with Miss Angorian."

Sophie laughed. Howl kissed her and continued:

"I was so afraid that you didn't really love me! I tried to find out if you do… The worst part of it was that I hadn't anyone to confide in. Michael was constantly away with Martha, and Calcifer doesn't know about humans' feelings, he wouldn't have understood…"

Calcifer crawled outside and corrected him:

"Actually, I did understand – all the time."

"What?" Howl and Sophie exclaimed in unison. The very thought of Calcifer falling in love with someone seemed… well, weird at least.

"I look too ugly to love anyone, huh?" Calcifer chuckled bitterly. "Oh well. You won't probably believe it, but only a few hundred years I used to be quite handsome."

"Then what happened?.." Sophie wondered.

Calcifer sighed:

"It's not a very cheerful story, but… I think I'll feel better if someone else hears it.

"You know, stars aren't as much alike as many people think. Our nation is just like humanity – there are different men and women with different characters. Our society, though, isn't like yours – our nature has another set of rules.

"I won't tell you everything about our life – it would take too long. I'll only say about one of the rules of a star's nature. A star, whether male or female, has everlasting life, youth, and beauty. But if a star's heart is broken, he or she slowly but steadily turns awfully ugly – like myself now.

"I led a happy normal life in the sky. I didn't fear breaking my heart – I thought nothing of that kind could happen to me. Until a perfectly unpredicted thing happened.

"Horizille, a rather plain red-haired female star from the constellation of Aries, an acquaintance of mine, slipped on a cloud and began falling down to the Earth. It was before sunset, and I happened to be the only one to witness it. I even tried to help her, but with no success. So while she was falling, she shouted for me: 'Take care of my sisters! They're left all alone!' She had four younger sisters.

"As any decent star would do, I fulfilled her death wish (she was killed on Earth soon after falling). I became the faithful guardian of Meteorine, Dawn, Lillianne, and Yvaine.

"Meteorine and Dawn were just ordinary stars – two kind, friendly, always happy and glowing girls. I didn't pay any special attention to them. Lillianne was an impulsive, arrogant brunette who dreamt of becoming a supernova. Yvaine was a golden-haired beautiful girl with a very difficult character. She was dreamy and romantic and – at the same time! – quarrelsome and stubborn. From dusk till dawn I had to watch her to make sure she wouldn't get herself into trouble.

"And, well, I grew attracted to her. It was just an attraction… until another tragedy happened in their family. After a big fight with her sisters, Lillianne jumped off the sky."

Calcifer paused.

"Well?" Howl asked, already interested in the story.

"There isn't much more to tell you about her fate. You've known her. Under the name of Lily Angorian. She always wanted to become someone great and powerful, so she made a certain contract with a promising young wicked witch…

"We watched her from the sky as she slowly became cold, calculating, and fierce – the Lily Angorian you encountered five years ago. You see, before she fell from the sky she used to be not only a sister, but a good friend of Yvaine's, and it was more than painful for Yvaine to watch her transformation.

"That's when Yvaine and I became very close friends. She was just fond of me, I think – I was someone to comfort her when her remaining sisters didn't understand her. But I… I soon found myself growing too fond of her. You know how it feels. I couldn't take my eyes off her… Her silvery voice, her ringing laughter, her blue eyes... She was a devoted, caring friend…

"I thought I'd propose to her in another several hundred years. Fate, however, had other plans.

"One night, when Meteorine and Dawn were away, Yvaine wanted to look at Lillianne again. I didn't mind. She leaned over to take a closer look on the Earth… And then suddenly something like a topaz necklace flew to us from the planet and hit Yvaine in the chest.

"It wasn't painful, I guess – just sudden. Yvaine jumped from surprise, lost her balance… tried to clench the nebulas surrounding us…

"I sprang to help her, but too late. She fell to the ground, screaming.

"After she landed, all of the stars were able to watch her. Many evil people wanted to capture her and eat her heart to become forever young and powerful. Fortunately, she was rescued and crowned as the Queen of Stormhold…"

"Storm – what?" Sophie asked.

"A parallel universe hidden in England," Howl explained. "So, Calcifer, if your Yvaine ended up alive, well and wealthy, what was the problem for you?"

Calcifer sighed:

"She fell in love with a young man who saved her life – the heir of Stormhold, and with him she was crowned and wedded. I don't know how I lived through it… My heart was broken... Meteorine and Dawn by the time were happily married to noble star lords Sirius and Fomalhaut respectively, so they no longer needed a guardian – and I decided to be by Yvaine's side no matter what. I wanted to fall in Stormhold and become her lackey, her cook – any kind of servant; just to be near her every day.

"Two years later I fell from the sky when a meteor shower hit northern Europe. But I didn't aim myself well, so instead of landing in England or Stormhold, I ended up in Wales. The rest of my life you know."

"Poor Calcifer!" Sophie exclaimed. "I didn't even notice anything you could be sorry about!"

"That's perhaps because I try to be a little happy," Calcifer explained sadly. "I'm glad that Yvaine got her happily ever after, even if it wasn't with me. Now that I'm free, at night I always fly to Stormhold to find out if she's alright. Well, she's happy, her husband is an ideal young guy, and she has three sweet kids. And I… I have you, my friends. Maybe everything goes on just as it should have."

Calcifer never spoke of Yvaine again. But now Howl and Sophie knew why he was absent late at night, why he seemed envious of their happy marriage and why sometimes they found sparkling plasma tears on the half-burnt firewood.


End file.
